on changing tax rates and spending reductions but the negotiations are moving very, very slowly. susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest. susan, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the president is sending his top two negotiators to talk with lawmakers today about possible spending cuts. he's also getting ready to take his fiscal cliff message on the road. he'll try to convince the american people the best way to avoid the fiscal cliff is to extend the bush era tax cuts for the middle class. >> it's too important for washington to screw this up. >> reporter: president obama is putting pressure on congressional republicans and he's enlisting middle class americans in getting the gop to take action on taxes. >> when the american people speak loudly enough, lo and behold congress listens. >> reporter: tomorrow he'll host a campaign style event where he calls on lawmakers to extend the tax rates on families making less than $250,000 a year. once that's done they can work on other details such as spending cuts and changes to the tax code, medicare and medicaid. >>